Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, England

Re-rate: 550 ml bottle from the Utah State Store. Pours a very dark brown color with a nice medium brown head. The initial flavor is heavy, bitter roasted malts. Later, it moves toward a milky chocolate flavor. Some Iron as well. Shares a lot of the characteristics of a Guinness FES. Bottle. Pours as close to black as it gets with a small head. The taste is first a bitter hop which goes down as you drink it. Also a nice malt with some sweetness and a great alcohol bite. Great.

Not a dissapointment at all, suprisingly with a clear glass bottle. A strong, dark appearance with little light peering thru. Head was very nice with a dark gray caramel two finger head. Flavor was of bitter chocolate, coffee, some vanilla hints and a nice roastiness that really blended well. This one sticks with you, so for some that’s good and others probably bad. Definitely worth a pick-up though."

Blackish pour. Roasty aroma with some chocolate and coffee. Flavor is sugary, roasty, and not at all what I prefer in an impy stout, though not a bad beer overall.

(Bottle, at home) pours dark, dark, dark brown/red. Nougat coloured head. Smell: Licuorice, shellfish and some coffee. Some barley scent. Some sweetness. Dark chocolate. Roasted malt, some alcohol. Plums. Taste: Dry, roasted malt. Big body and a full taste. Coffee. A bit sour. Cocoa in the back, behind the coffee taste. A bit salty.

Pours an opaque dark brown, almost blackish body. Head is medium sized, light brown, and creamy looking. Like liqified chocolate! Aroma has definite strong hops, with a slight coffee hint as well. Aroma is bitter sweet with earthy, nutty tones as well. Vanilla extract also present. Taste is immidiate coffee and hops bitterness. Followed by subtle nutty notes. Also present are hints of whisky, woodiness and slcohol. The beer left a slight alcoholic burn in my throat, but it’s not a bad thing, as it is acting as a nice winter warmer. Bitter aftertaste, in fact this is the bitterest imperial stout I have had to date. Impressive! Sam Smith’s keeps on suprising me!

Terrific near black pour with solid brown head. Nose of roast and chocolate with some alcohol. Flavors of oak, anise, raisin, molasses, bitter chocolate, roast malt, smoke, toffee. Medium chewy body has an appropriate amount of carbonation, but needs to be just a little creamier and fuller bodied to push it over the top.

bottle. I am really amused by the fact that Sam Smith’s dark stuff comes in clear bottles. Not really sure why that is. Anyway, this beer looks great. It’s solid opaque black in any normal light and sports a dark tan, lasting head. Great aroma of full, roasted, oily coffee and a faint hop bitterness which is quite non-descript. More coffee in the flavor with some nut hulls and a bit of nearly sweet malt. This stuff is very roasty. Sam Smith’s may not be the thickest of imperial stouts, but it’s bold enough to sate my craving for one.

12oz bottle from Willow Bend Liquors (Tampa, FL). Pours a dark brown to black with a one finger tan head that settles slowly and provides some lacing on the glass. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of brandy, dark chocolate, ripe dark fruit, black cherries, and some slight spice. Flavor is rich and complex with sweet malt transitioning to a slightly bitter coffee and toffee flavor. Other notes include ripe dark fruit, molasses, some dark chocolate. Medium to full body with a pleasant finish.